Louis Moinet
The historical Louis Moinet (born Bourges, 1768) was one of the greatest watchmakers of the 19th century: friend of Breguet (from 1811), creator of extraordinary astronomical clocks for Napoleon, Tsar Alexander I, King George IV, Marshal Murat, and US presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe. In 1816 he created the Compteur de Tierces — the world's first chronograph, recording 1/60th-second intervals at 216,000vph (30Hz), certified by Guinness World Records. On 14 May 2012, a Christie's auction lot estimated at CHF 3,000–5,000 was revealed by Jean-Marie Schaller's subsequent examination to be this very instrument.
Jean-Marie Schaller founded Les Ateliers Louis Moinet SA in 2004 in Saint-Blaise with co-founder Micaela Bartolucci to revive the prestigious name. The brand specialises in limited edition and unique mechanical art pieces featuring exotic materials — Moon dust, Martian meteorite, deep-sea fossil — alongside intricate engraving, skeletonisation, and high complications. Landmark models: Memoris (2015, 60 pieces, world's first chronograph-watch with the entire chronograph mechanism shifted to the dial; GPHG nominated); Memoris Superlight (carbon case); 1816 Chronograph (anniversary series, 210 years in 2026); Tempograph; Time to Race. All timepieces are either exclusive limited editions or unique pieces. Member of the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie.
Schaller's own path to the brand began humbly — working from home beside his wife Micaela in the manner of many boutique watchmaking houses — after a career that included relaunching Perrelet and a stint at Lacoste Watches; he founded Louis Moinet in 2000 on the recommendation of fellow watchmaker Daniel Roth, and the Compteur de Tierces went on to earn a second Guinness World Record in 2021, this time for being the first high-frequency stopwatch ever built. Recent novelties have expanded the brand's dual identity of historically-rooted chronograph craft and cosmic haute horlogerie: the Speed of Sound series revives genuine new-old-stock Valjoux 88 movements — only 13,218 were ever made, between 1947 and 1974 — stripped of their calendar and 12-hour counter and re-finished in Louis Moinet style, while the Time to Race 'Flash' chronographs, inspired by classic black-and-gold Lotus Formula 1 livery, expanded for the first time from titanium into 18k red gold at Watches and Wonders 2026. That salon proved to be Schaller's last: gravely ill, he was unable to attend, and he passed away on 16 May 2026 at the age of 66, mourned across the industry as one of independent watchmaking's most original and passionate figures. Leadership has passed to acting CEO and board member Kurt Kupper, with son Nathanaël Schaller — already an active presence in the company for years — now running the atelier day to day, alongside his mother Micaela and sister Raphaëlle, carrying forward the mission Jean-Marie described simply as restoring Louis Moinet to his rightful place in the watchmaking pantheon.